


shadowed heart of a shattered soul

by EdgyCrab



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Demons, Demonstuck, Hallucinations, Humanstuck, Karkat is best brother, Multi, everyone is in pain, evil shadow queen, fog of limbo, more to be added - Freeform, psii is like so out of character its unreal, shadow demons, talk of incest, trippy fog
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-01-07 19:34:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12239304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdgyCrab/pseuds/EdgyCrab
Summary: life is shit in the human tribe known as alternia, and a prime example of that are when things just go from bad to worse in mere months for the next generation of hunters. they will walk a terrifying line between life and death, and its unknown how many will survive, all they do know is that it started with the last female vantas Dianaa.





	1. prologue: shadowed

**Author's Note:**

> i did not want to post this now, but i watched a video about the five biggest mistakes artists make and i realise that i need to post this now or never and that its never gonna be perfect, though there is one plot point im gonna edit later because it makes no sense, this is the big one people, my thoughtout master plan, and no-ones gonna discourage me, so please remember that this is my dream realm and that its kind of a gateway into my mind, but i will except critisism and questions.

The looming fog settled around the half hidden castle that stood high above the clouds, it's dark, imposing figure doing nothing to quell the fear that stood in everyone's hearts. “So this is it?” a man said, he was small, with messy hair and a small prickly beard, he wore a cloak covered in red markings, expertly sewn in, and some light armor over it, a sickle in each hand as he stands in front of a small crowd.

 

“Brother, do not doubt it” a woman says as she steps to his side, she had short, ruffly cut hair and gold armor, with red silk falling over her body, “we have made sure that it is the place before”, she said pointing her scythe towards the dark castle “that is where  **_she_ ** sleeps, i am sure”

 

“Whatever you say” the man turns around looking at the small army the two lead “alright then, is everybody ready”. 

 

Along the group there were nods as chorus of “ **YES SIR’S** ” was to be heard from all over the estate.

 

He turned back around “ **FOR HUMANITY** ” they all screamed, running into the dark unforgiving fog.

 

The Chained could hear the clatter of swords, unsure of whose they were she waited, sat behind a rock, her clothes torn to shreds, the sound of screams in the distance. She was currently hiding behind a rock in the middle of what was currently a battle field. She could feel,  **_her,_ ** ever looming presence though, so she wasn't safe, but on a second thought, she never had been. footsteps could be heard as someone approached, and screams could be heard, a slicing sound accompanying it. She quickly stood up, running as she heard footsteps follow her, they weren't running but were always the same distance away.

 

The signless slashed at the numerous monsters coming straight at him, his Disciple not far behind “it may sound weird” the disciple said slashing through a number of creatures at once with her clawed gloves “but i think we really have to talk about you and Chained”.

 

The Signless froze for a second, a grave mistake as a slumping demon clawed at his right arm causing him to start whacking his sickles everywhere, in the slight panic it caused “not now honey, can't you see we’re trying to save humanity here”. Signless seemed to get slightly more enraged as he tore through an imps skull “and anyway what's there to talk about, she’s my sister”.

 

“Oh, i know she’s your sister” Disciple said as she walked backwards slashing multiple times at an ogre’s face “but the problem is her children” Signless froze, shocked that she had mentioned them, let alone decided to talk to him about them, surely The Chained would have been a much better choice for this conversation. Thankfully the mass of creatures seemed to have stopped, leaving the two time to talk. The Disciple turned to The Signless, walking over and putting a gloved hand on his shoulder “Signy i know they’re yours aswell” Signless didn’t speak “I’m ok with it y’know. But seriously try not to make anymore, ‘cause im kinda worried about their health”. He still remained silent, unsure of what he would have said anyway, thankfully a demon had stalked its way into his line of sight. He slashed it’s face in two, another scream to join its predecessors in the howling wind. The conversation could wait. For now they were finishing a war.

 

Meanwhile not to far away The Chained was running from a being of mysterious power, 

one of the minions of the group’s target,  **_her_ ** magic seeping from it’s hollowed form. As if on a sudden que The Chained felt a weight on her throwt that pushed her to the ground, anger emanating from the fingers that clenched it. The Chained found it difficult to move as she felt a body sitting on hers, an immense laughter seeping from it, an unnatural, dreadful laughter that crept beneath her now pale skin. The creature tugged at The Chained’s hair, daring her to try to escape its grip “get off me” Chained spat as she got a mouth full of mud from the way the form was now bashing her head into the ground. The echoing laugh died down as a mysterious whisper crept past her ears, and then the weight evaporated and she found she was able to move again.

 

But The Chained wasn’t where she had been a mere second ago, she was in the dark depths of what she could only presume was the dark castle owned by  **_her_ ** , a terrifying place that she now had the chance to roam, even if only for a moment. She walked through the long, echoing, dark chambers, ones that had tapestries and ones that held ancient carvings, some of which contained a mere four red dots, strange decor even for the shadow queen herself. It didn’t take long for The Chained to find out that she was going in circles through a chain of rooms, it was as if the castle's rooms where moving to keep her away from something. The Chained was struck with a sudden realization that caused her to go into an all out run through the rooms,  **_she_ ** was playing with her.

 

Hours seemed to pass in the span of a few minutes as she went through room after room, door after door, until she came to a grand door, unlike the others in the castle it was ornate, with red markings on it, leading to one of the biggest battles that would happen in her life. Her foot connected with the door as she looked down a long almost hall like room, pillars holding vases and other forms of pottery were stood near the walls, like it was a collection that  **_she_ ** had spent a lot of time on. Surrounding the pillars and red carpet where hundreds upon hundreds of ever changing figures whose evil smiles seemed to glow through the dark room. Splinters of moonlight came through a dome shaped window that spiralled out of the room and into the sky, The Chained didn't think she had gone up any stairs on her way to this room, but she figured that this entire castle worked like the fog that surrounded its grounds, a magic force only  **_she_ ** could manipulate.

 

The Chained started to walk forward, her boots echoing in the room that, though filled with presence, was not filled with more than two physical beings. To her surprise the shadows didn't move, they didn't launch at her, or try to possess her, they only stared, which worried her, as she new these things were extremely violent. When The Chained got over halfway through the room she saw a figure smiling straight at her, just out of site.

 

**_She_ ** was cloaked in a veil of darkness that The Chained couldn't see through, but she could tell by the way it looked at her, that the figure in front of her was indeed,  **_The Shadow Queen_ ** . The chained got into her stance that prepared her for what she was about to do next, she was going to charge  **_Her_ ** .

 

The fog became thick around The Signless, a sense of worry washing through him, as if a piece of him was being forcefully ripped from him, his next action only confirmed this as he went into a full run in what seemed like a random direction at the time. The Disciple wasn’t too far behind when they felt the earth beneath them move, not in any particular direction, just move. “Signy stop” The Disciple yelled after him as they ran through the muddy terrain, but he seemed to be focussed on something else, something no-one but him could sense “SIGNY FOR THE GODS’S SAKES STOP”. But The Signless didn’t stop, he couldn’t stop, he kept turning to different directions and running around non-existing things and looking around in a rush of panic trying to find that none existent pull, like it was coming from all places at once.

 

Back inside the cavernous castle The Chained was fighting for her life against a force she knew she couldn’t kill easily, its echoing laugh the only thing she could hear besides the clashing of metal and her boots hitting the floor as she jumped into her attacks. Time had seemed to pause as she took swing after swing into the being that had damned the human race to hell. She wasn’t thinking when she took a swing at her chest, falsely believing she’d just absorb it like all the others, she jumped a couple of metres back, to her sudden surprise a piercing scream could be heard from the form as **_it_** curled in on itself on the brick floors of **_it’s_** own castle. There wasn’t even a clatter as **_she_** dropped her weapon into the near infinite shadows that were below her, as she breathed heavily and collapsed onto the floor, the gash glowing a dark black, that whispered of a secret that no-one had ever known before. The look in **_her_** eyes sent chills down her spine, she could just make out the ghosts of where they were, but she could tell by how stale the air now was that **_she_** was giving her an expression of saddened defeat, The Chained wanted to say something, point out about this **_thing,_** no this human like creature giving her a look she could barely take, but she couldn’t, she couldn’t talk, she couldn’t move, she was paralyzed. The demon lifted itself off the floor, a slight snicker gracing **_her_** face as **_she_** limped towards her, a hand on **_her_** chest. The Chained then realised that something was holding her, no some things were holding her, she twisted her face to see the shadowed minions gripping her arms and legs, just smiling at her unapologetically, with their evil grins that glowed white, the only light in the room, since it had gone completely dark ever since that **_thing_** had gotten off it’s throne. The Chained tried to struggle herself out of the grips of the beings holding her as **_it_** stepped closer, **_its_** chest still seeping darkness ‘ _maybe’_ she thought. The Chained gave the intimidating queen a disheartened look of defeat, her smile felt wider as her heels clicked on the bricks, becoming ever closer. When the being stopped just a foot away from her, she could feel what was emanating the darkness. Inside the cavernous chest of shadows was a black, unbeating heart, one that probably been dead for hundreds of years, but somehow still sustained the demon that stood before her. Her defeat turned to triumph as she surprised the entire room by headbutting what was before her, this had an effect on the shadows as well as their claw grips loosened to the point where in just a split second the chained had phased through those grips. She got away from the shadows as best as possible, sadly if headbutting their leader wasn’t surprising enough, the fact The Chained had seemed to attract more of them was, as they flooded the room by the thousand, flying through walls and rising through the floors, all set on the same target, her.

 

The Chained couldn’t believe what she was seeing, the sheer numbers of beings that lived in this castle was unreal, they couldn’t all live in this castle even. She could barely see her target as swarms of shadows rushed at her, this time she was prepared. As the herds flew to her, she spun her scythe over her head, causing them to back up for a second, scared only of the material it was made of. She used their fear of her scythe to her advantage, running over to their leader and slashing  **_her_ ** again, and again,  **_her_ ** face covered by more shadows, she could feel the anger emanating from  **_her_ ** though, a deep brooding anger as deep as the cuts The Chained had made. When The Chained could sense  **_her_ ** facial features again  **_she_ ** was giving her a blank stare,  **_her_ ** slender fingers turning into nuckles out of what could only be pain. The Chained decided she couldn’t feel empathy for  **_her_ ** again, this was the creature that destroyed her world, it wouldn’t be fair to let  **_her_ ** off easily. She was so caught up in her thoughts for that moment that she didn't even realise that  **_her_ ** knuckle had launched itself at her face, knocking her out of her thoughts, and the scythe out of her hand. At this point The Chained could see the emanating black heart that lay in the being's chest, the thought crossed her mind again. She on instinct dug her hand into  **_her_ ** chest, grabbed the echoing black mass, and with all her force, dislodged it from it’s place in the creature.

 

Within just a few moments The Signless could see the castle again. He had been wandering for what seemed like years now, striking down any demons who stood in his way, or anything that wasn’t human for that matter. He made his way through the heaps of dead bodies, and piles of dust, past his friends and teammates, to the huge door that laid between them and the magnet that pulled The Signless inside. When the door opened he heard a scream, unlike anything he’d ever heard, it was pained, but demonic, full of emotion but like it never had any to begin with, any god would say it was unholy, but to The Signless it was all too familiar. He followed the scream through the dark rooms, unable to see much of what was in them, but able to grasp that they were there. It was when he opened those ornate doors that he saw it, his sister curled on the floor her head in her arms, next to the corpse, of what he could only assume was  **_the shadow queen_ ** . He walked to examine it,  **_she_ ** looked like a child no older than 17, and there was a look on  **_her_ ** face, of which he could only sense, that seemed too calm to say she had just been killed by a human, a ‘disgusting’ being. Signless grimaced and kicked  **_her_ ** face away from him, snapping her neck in the process, he felt no sympathy, only a victorious flare in his chest as he went to kneel at The chained. She was shaking violently now, a slight mumble coming from her form as he watched her attempt to get up, but in the process slipped back onto her side, it was a pathetic attempt that by most would be seen as a sign of weakness, but he saw through it, something had happened, something that caused her to become an unstable mess.

 

“What happened here” there was clunky footsteps coming, the rest of their army. The voice had come from the mechanical form of the psionic, his usual wetsuit like clothes on, his sister close behind. “Is she alright” his voice was echoed the eternal devotion to the other, that they both shared.

 

Signless felt hands on his arms as the chained dragged herself onto her knees and stared into signless's eyes “she's behind you” her voice was panicky and desperate, tears falling from her eyes as he felt her panicking form tremble “please, she’s there”, she pointed at the wall behind The Signless. When The Signless looked at said wall though, he didn’t see anything.

 

“Chained there's no-one there, are you ok” the knight had arose from the crowd of people that had gathered, around the chained. For once her helmet was off giving everyone full view of her face, something only her closest friends had seen, and something the chained would describe in meticulous detail when they were alone together.

 

“Knight” the aress grabbed her wife by the arm, her giant sewing needles both in her left hand so she wouldn’t risk hurting The Knight “i dont think thats a good idea” she looked at the chained who was currently trying to push herself towards her friends, or towards the apparently invisible threat. “She doesn't look stable” her voice had concern in it, but only towards the knight.

 

“Waress don't be stupid, she’s our friend” she pulled her arm away from The Waress, who stepped back into the crowd. The Knight fell to her knees as she got to the chained “are you ok chained”.

 

chained grabbed at The Knight. “Please you have to believe me, you more than anyone should know she isn't going to die that easily, she wouldn't let herself die that easily, please” she was crying her eyes out, trying to grab onto the imaginary fabric of the knight’s clothes “please”.

 

It appeared that she had tired herself out as she collapsed into the accepting arms of the knight “well that's enough of that nonsense” the psionic finally spoke up again, his words caught everyone's eyes. “If she’s going to act crazy then we should treat her accordingly”

 

“Psionic please tell me this is a very unfunny joke” the dolorosa stepped forward, her clothes were also delicate as she was a mother figure to everyone in the room “she is you friend, almost a sister to you”.

 

Psionic smiled walking over and slinging a hand around he dolorosa “and friends take care of friends, therefore i propose we put our new facility into action” he had that wicked kind of grin on his face, the type the signless didn't trust whenever it was on his friends face.

 

“We are not putting my sister into an asylum, you remember the history we have of those things” the signless couldn’t help but shout, the fact that his closest friend had even suggest such a thing was a disgrace to their colony.

 

“Well it appears we have no choice” Psiioniic signalled to the chained who was currently thrashing at an invisible threat in her unconsciousness, even if she was being petted by the knight, an action that had always calmed her down, the fact that she was still shaking so violently meant something was horribly wrong, and the signless knew he wasn't the only one who felt it. “Can't you see that she’s hallucinating, come on Dolorosa”

 

“I agree with the signless” the dolorosa answered, “none of my children going into That freak of nature” she looked absolutely horrified at the idea of it, her arms contracting in as if trying to keep something safe, and with the delicate fabrics that fell around her arms, it only looked even more so. But there was a look of anger there aswell, anger that could destroy cities if it wanted too, and indeed it had, city after city that was infested with demons, even as age caught up with her.

 

“And again i’ll say we have no choice, she's spasming like a dying demon, and screaming like a banshee, she needs help” psionic dared to step closer, as if challenging the signless or anyone else for that matter to question his royal judgment, he looked to the crowd who all had their heads lowered in thought, thought about what was anyones guess. Psionic grinned and looked at signless with a look that anyone could tell was of victory “please” he tried to look empathetic “its for her own good”.

 

“How do we know that her children are safe from this” a women arose from the crowed in her pirate getup, she was the sort of person who looked like she’d twist the truth until it fit her story and supported her goals “ we don't know where they came from, her and the signless disappeared for months on end and come back with 2 kids, then she disappears again. Not even three years later and return with 2 more just in time for the biggest battle of our lives, a bit fishy if you ask me” she addressed the crowd awarding her thoughtful faces, as well as a nervous look from The Signless.

 

Dualscar suddenly was next to the woman “mindfang does have a point” he said his cape, blowing in an imaginary wind “where did the children come from signless” He gave that look that people give when they know you have a relationship with someone but you won't admit it.

 

Signless couldn't help but blush Slightly under the hood of his cloak as he got off the floor and stood silently. “The children…” he paused, unsure of what to say, should he tell them they were his and the chained, or should he say he had nothing to do with them. He was being stared at, even his dear disciple was looking at him, though unlike most others she gave a look of sympathy, and he replied with a pleading one. He needed to say something, but even just looking at them, they had features prominent in either one or both of their parents, but he could say they were just his, but he knew at least one of them would cry for their mother. The Chained had frequently taken their daughters out for walks, while he had been more attached to his sons. The Signless could tell that the Psiioniic wouldn’t give up after this, his daughters looked too much like their mother for him too. “The boys are mine”  he said, ashamed of himself for not at least trying to protect his daughters “the girls are hers” he sighed.

 

“sure, but then how did the younger of the boys end up in the hands of the chained when she returned” the psionic said, as he studied the signless’s features. The signless had hoped he wouldn't have picked up on that, but as usual, his expert detection skills picked out every flaw in his sentence. Signless only lowered his head more, going deeper into thought about how he could respond. “And where did you two even get the children” signless hadn’t even considered that “of course if you were cheating on the disciple with the chained, that would clear out her long absences, and mysterious children”. Psionic started circling the signless, studying his every breath as he observed for the slightest sign of truth. “But of course if she was pregnant, why weren't you with her when she gave birth, as she came back alone, therefore maybe you should go to the asylum aswell, for neglect of your own pregnant sister.”

 

Signless gulped, but as if she was an angel from above her disciple walked to him, and put a hand on his shoulder, he looked at her and she winked at him “the chained went to the devil’s circus to use their ectobiology machine” that had been partly true, they had gone to the devils circus. “They were stationed a few months away, and because of limited functionality of the machine in our use, we decided we’d use that machine to create our children and because of the convenience, chained used the machine aswell” she explained. It was all partly true, they had met the clowns, the machine did have better functionality, it was almost perfect except. Signless glanced at the subjugglator and the juggalette, they only nodded, and suddenly his Disciple had saved some of the Chained’s legacy, she would not be forgotten.

 

Signless could only watch the four screaming girls from the outside of the asylum, feeling only pure agony for what he had caused. The three year old screaming as she was being torn away from her brother, a comfort she had always had, she held a second screaming bundle in the form of signless’s youngest, a bundle that she was holding like a lifeline. The chained was being dragged by beefy subjects of the Psiioniic’s as she screamed about  **_her_ ** , the knight, the assassin, and most painfully him, her words echoing in his head “SIGNLESS PLEASE! YOU CAN'T DO THIS PLEASE!” She struggled, trying to escape from the man's grasp “DON'T LET THEM TAKE THEM, PLEASE” It was at that point she disappeared into the walls of was now called the asylum.

 

Psionic walked up behind him, signless turned to face the hand that was now on his shoulder, his hand was burnt “for humanity” was all he said before walking into the walls a lab coat on him and a skip in his feet.

 

The final scream was bitter one that only echoed in his head, it was pained but held a kind of joy aswell, “for humanity”.


	2. chapter 1: awakened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> introducing, dianaa vantas, our beautiful protaganist, from the depths of insanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so i dont have a lot of time right now. So there is basically no editing to this, plus side is this is this is a highly edited version of what was posted on my wattpad account, i've been putting off righting this for a whole month, as i do. i've been thinking of making this into a visual novel, or trying to, but it would be completely silent, as thats the only thing i cant do by myself and yeah, enjoy your trash.

The oak doors opened, releasing a touch artificial of light into the modern house, the colors remained, light grays, browns and white, with hints of red here and there. Dianaa looked around as she took a shoeless step onto the stone floor, the coolness causing her to freeze as she tapped the foot a couple more times before walking into the room.

  


As Dianaa walked around the room touching everything she could and staring at others, the door closed, to her it was loud, shocking, enough to make her turn towards the source of the sound. It was a boy, a boy she didn't yet fully know the name of, only being referred to as kar by the beefy men and machine experiment people. She walked back to the boy, he looked like the people at the asylum, or at least he had that look, his form was completely different from theirs, as he was scrawny and the same size as her, at least the chart said so. Kar looked at her, a stressed, angry look “WHAT?”

  


His voice was almost a shout, which caused Dianaa’s instincts to kick in. she ran away from what seemed like immediate danger, coming across a room with a bunch of seats in it, and a black screen hung up on a wall, she was too busy looking at the screen that she didn't see the seat that she inevitably ended up slumped over. Dianaa felt hands flip her over so she was facing kar, she shrunk, her thoughts dipping to her past mistakes “gods's sake what is wrong with you” his voice had calmed down some what, but there was a distinct croakiness that came with it. Kar reached into the plastic bag that was on the floor and pulled out a file, he flicked through it, scanning her medical history “oh, i get it”, he said solemnly flinging the folder to another seat and crouched down in front of her “hello Dianaa im karkat, its very nice to meet you”. He held out a hand towards her. He waited a few moments before retreating it, standing back up and picking up the discarded files and once again opened up her medical history. Several moments later karkat sat down besides Dianaa, who had already retracted her legs into a chest “you could make this easier you know” he had his hand on his face, presumably out of stress. He got off the seat a moment later and paced a circle into the carpeted floor “i take you into my home, i probably saved you a lifetime of constant nagging, accepted you wouldn’t be the easiest thing to take into my life” he turned on his heel and walked toward her, taking her bony shoulders into his hands and ruffly dragging them said hands “SO WHY WON'T YOU TALK TO ME”. Karkat realised how badly he was shaking the girl's delicate frame and took a step back “sorry i” he sighed, walking back into the room from earlier with his head hung slightly lower than before.

  


Dianaa eased the tension she didn’t realise she had, and then scampered after karkat. The girl had barely rounded the corner on her feat as her legs were still getting used too the amount of movement they were allowed to have. She was now holding onto the wall for dear life, gasping slightly from the shock, her eyes raised to see a half stood karkat staring back at them as fear once again filled her body, telling her to run, but she could also tell she didn't need too. “K, Karkat” she said her voice shaky and uneven, out of practice and unheard to most “we, i, am glad to meet you”.

  


Her words earned her a smirk from karkat as he once again walked over to her, at the moment he seemed so tall and fearsome, like a distant memory somewhere, but all he did was put a hand on her shoulder and say “it’s great to see you again sister”. Dianaa was confused for a second, but once that second was over her eyes lit up, she had always known she’d had a brother, two in fact, she knew this because it was something her mother had once said too her. A big smile spread across her face, she was finally home.

  


Dianaa, walked through the long, door filled hall, her eyes barely skimming over every door before she froze, her internal clock registering the door as the right one. Her hand grazed over the doorknob as she felt small waves of static electricity connect with fingers and flow through her body. She had never liked doors, most of the time they had held nasty surprises. The worst time was the time when the door to hers and her mother’s door had opened, the beefy men coming in one at a time as they dragged her mother's limp body away, much too her younger self’s dismay as she scream and had gripped the older womans clothes to try and prevent the men from taking her. She had never seen her mother since. She slowly opened the door revealing a white room with a surgical table, two beefy men stood over a figure that was laying on the table, they quickly moved behind the table, revealing the horribly crippled and mutated form of Dianaa’s mother. Dianaa herself fell back onto the floor and crawled her way to the opposite wall.  “M, mommy?” she croaked out as she reached forward, only for her mother's eyes to open revealing glazed over, unrecognisable eyes, her once ruby red orbs faded to an unnatural shade of brown, her pupils dilated and her eyes lidded. She reclined her hand as her mother screamed, this scream didn’t hold any sort of volume, but instead was filled with whimpering cries and shadowed whispers, the type that had always filled her ears as a young girl. Still this scream was enough to send the innocence into a fit of screaming, desperately trying to drown out the pain, her only thought was ‘STOP, STOP, PLEEEEEASE!’.

  


It was the sudden hands that were shaking her that brought her out of the hallucination, they were in no way kind, but held good intentions in them. The moment her eyes stuck karkat she realised it had been a hallucination, caused by the stark white walls of her new room, reminding her of days long passed. “DIANAA WHAT'S WRONG”, his face was filled with a slight concern and his voice was back to a shout, but at the moment Dianaa didn't care, all she could do was nod her head slightly and let the tears fall down her cheeks, turning her into the sniffling, crying mess of a person she was. This seemed to throw karkat off as he studied her tears, his face softening into a look of pity, until he stood up and turned to look through the door, walking into the room a second later. This gave Dianaa a second to gather herself as she sorted her thoughts into, memories, fantasies and horrors only being dragged from them by the sound of karkat pulling the door too and crouching down again. He looked like he was in deep thought, something she had found herself doing on many occasions, these thoughts ultimately branched into the memories of her punishment for such actions. Before she realised what she was doing her, hand had hit karkat’s face, causing panic to flow through her. He was shocked for a second before his brow furrowed out of anger “WHAT WAS THAT FOR!” He shouted, causing her to recline into herself, head lowering slightly in embarrassment.

  


Dianaa hadn’t meant to slap him, so her first thought to help was something her mother had always done, she extended her hand and rubbed the area she had hit. “It's gonna be ok” she said smiling as best she could, sadly she couldn’t hold it for too long before falling into her neutral tone.

  


Karkat’s face twisted into a look of confusion, his eyes shifting to look at the hand that was rubbing the spot she had just slapped, his face seemed to loosen, as if realizing something. “What did they do to you” he said as he took dianaa’s hand, slowly peeling it from her face, his voice had seemed kinder then a second ago. He looked down, to which Dianaa followed, cocking her head to the side to see karkat’s face. Karkat’s grip on dianaa’s hand tightened before he let go standing up and walking down the hall “i’ll be back in a few minutes, i have to call someone” his voice was quieter, as if in thought. Karkat left leaving dianaa to herself again, she wondered what calling someone meant, did that mean he was going to shout for a person.

  


She pondered this for a few moments before she heard footsteps from the stairs down the hall, looking to see karkat walking towards her “was fast” dianaa said, karkat looked confused for a second as he looked down a hand in his pocket.

  


“YOU DIDN’T GET OFF OF THE FLOOR?” he asked as he held a hand out for her, she hesitated for a moment before taking it and rising to larkats level.

  


“Th, thank, you” she choked out.

  


Karkat gave her a soft smile before leading her down the hall, “HEY DIANAA” he said, catching her immediate attention.

  


“Yes” Dianaa said politely as she was lead down the numerous stairs, causing her legs to buckle into a slow agonising pace. But Karkat didn’t seem annoyed by this, instead he lead her down by their connected hands, causing Dianaa to feel warmer, happier, more special.

  


“I'VE CALLED A FRIEND, HIS NAME'S SOLLUX CAPTOR.” Karkat said after Dianaa had maneuvered her way to the bottom of the stairs, she recognised the name from somewhere, a bad memory probably, one she had tried to block out. “HEY YOU OK DI”. Dianaa hadn’t noticed she had been staring into space, but she turned her head to the side at the sentence “OH YOU DON'T MIND ME CALLING YOU DI DO YOU, IF YOU WANT YOU CAN CALL ME KAR”.

  


“Kar” Dianaa repeated, testing the word, seeing if she could sense a hidden meaning sewn into it’s being. Dianna nodded, agreeing to call him by this new ‘nickname’ he had told her.

Karkat lead Dianaa into the living room and sat on a seat, motioning for her to do the same. Dianaa sat, finding the seat to be the most comfortable thing she’d ever sat on, soon finding herself curling into herself, once again thinking of where she’d heard that name before, and what kind of meaning it held to her.

  


To Dianaa it took no time at all for the knock to come, but it was clear that to Karkat it had taken alot longer, even if he was as deep if not deeper in thought than herself. But as soon as the knock i'd come he lifted himself off the seat, Dianaa was about to follow suit, when a hand was wafted in front of her “wait here” he whispered, before walking to confront the mysterious person behind the door.

  


Dianaa listened carefully to the shouts that echoed to her ears, Karkat was shouting a lot, and he was shouting a lot of words Dianaa didn’t understand. The voice that accompanied his was less shouty, but used much of the same language, is voice sounded weird, but familiar, like a long forgotten memory that brought up a lot of pain. After a few minutes their voices started getting closer, and a lot clearer, and as the voice that was so familiar but so alien got closer, she began to recognise it more and more.

  


“Theriouthly KK, why did you call me here, you know i have tho much more important thhit to do you know” as the person entered the room, their eyes met, or so it would be if she could see his eyes, they were covered by a red lense and a blue one, i feature that brought on a headache, as she remembered the pain. “Kk, why ith,  _ thhe _ , here?”, dianaa could hear the hatred in Sollux’s voice as he spoke about her.

  


“SOLLUX, CALM DOWN, YOU BULGE LICKER, SHE’S ONLY JUST GOT HERE, AND I WOULD MUCH RATHER YOU DIDN’T SCARE HER”, Karkat’s voice, though calming to hear also made her shiver with fear, she could feel the storm that was brewing between the two, and she was scared of what it would cause.

  


“KK she’s insane, she isn’t supposed to be here, she’s meant to be back in the asylum, it’s where she’s meant to be” sollux had turned on karkat, facing him with shaking arms, and the rooms aura felt of fear that wasn’t just Dianaa’s “if dad finds out that she’s here-”

  


“YOUR DAD, GAVE ME PERMISSION TO BRING HER HERE” karkat’s voice was now steadily rising in tone, as well as annoyance. Sollux seemed to ponder something for a second, raising his hand to his face and breathing steadily, reducing is shakiness

  


“KK cant thhe, i don't know, go to your dadth” he seemed desperate, trying to find some way, any way, around what was inevitable

  


“AND LET KANKRI GET TO HER, NO WHY, HE’LL JUST FUCKIN SCREW WITH HER HEAD MORE.” karkat, calmed down, sollux joining him in the shared relaxation that flowed through the room, each person taking a moment to think before speaking.

  


“Karkat, thhe’th an athylum dweller, thhe doethn’t belong here” sollux said, turning to Dianaa, who cowered at the mere sight of him glancing at her, but calmed when she felt no more malice in his gaze.

  


“SOLLUX, IT’S BEEN LIKE 2 FUCKING HOURS, AND SHE LITERALLY HAD SOME SORT OF PANIC ATTACK, LIKE HALF AN HOUR AGO” karkat’s voice was loud but calm, words that she couldn’t recognise being used all over the place as he spoke, leaving her slightly confused, but mostly intrigued.

  


“Thhe’th thurvived 16 yearth to the day KK, the place meththeth you up after an hour, i don't think you’ll get what you want from her, whatever that may be” sollux seemed to be returning to how he talked before he’d seen Di, not for the first time, but for their first meeting. 

  


After many moments of an uncomfortable silence that no-one seemed to be able to break, Dianaa finally brought up the courage to think of words to say “Soll-ux, met before, right” she had better words to say, she knew how to say them, she knew what they meant, she just didn’t know how to express them correctly.

  


“Yeah we met before i guethth, i wath jutht getting the mandatory captor family tour, and your, ‘family’ wath a part of it, but honethtly it’th more thurprithing that you cant actually thpeak than anything”. He paused to take a breather, readjusting his glasses, and thinking his words through carefully before he could say something to offend the girl even more, he didn’t want to be her enemy, he just didn’t like the idea of her being out in the open, it was dangerous and unnatural, like most things in this world. “I’ll have to tell my father about this observation later, he’ll find it quite intriguing” sollux said before rising to leave.

  


“AND WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOUR GOING?” karkat asked, he wasn’t stupid, and didn’t like to be treated as such, so he made an effort to make a mental note of when people were gonna mention something they shouldn’t to an officer of higher rank than them.

  


“To tell my dad to reconsider letting her stay here of courthe” his voice made it seem like it was an obvious fact of life.

  


“OH NO YOU DON'T, I THOUGHT YOU WERE OK WITH HER BEING HERE” karkat said, rushing quickly over to grab the older teen by the sleeve, and dragging him back with immense force to the seats and throwing him over one “AND YOU'RE NOT FUCKING LEAVING THIS ROOM UNTIL YOU APOLOGIZE TO DI, AND PROMISE US THAT YOU WONT CONVINCE YOUR FUCKING PSYCHOPATHIC FATHER TO DRAG HER BACK TO THE ASYLUM” karkat made the message loud and clear as he shouted the words into sollux’s ear, and to Di the atmosphere seemed to change from relaxing, to stressful, causing her to feel back into herself, and try to keep a level head as she rocked herself.

  


“Anyone can thay their thorry without meaning it KK, it's jutht a fact of life, like demonth, or that athylum dwellerth thhould thtay in the athylum where they belong” this sentence got karkat mad, as he drove his hand through sollux’s messy hair, and dragged his head to level with his.

  


“EXCUSE ME,  _ CAPTOR _ , BUT I THINK I HEARD YOU WRONG, DID YOU FUCKING SAY THAT STUPID DAMN EXCUSE ABOUT NOT MEANING IT, YOU’VE FUCKING CAUSED ME TO SCARE DI, WHO IS CURRENTLY, PROBABLY ENTERING ANOTHER PANIC ATTACK” he said, ignoring all senses of biology, and twisting Sollux’s head to Dianaa, still rocking herself into a calm, and relaxed state, or as best as she could do so. “I FUCKING CALLED YOU HERE TO FUCKING GIVE ME ADVICE ABOUT HOW TO FUCKING TAKE CARE OF HER, AND INSTEAD OF HELPING, YOU SCARE HER, CAUSE ME TO SHOUT LOUDER THAN USUAL, WHICH MAY I ADD SHE MIGHT HAVE JUST BEEN GETTING USED TO. AND ON TOP OF THAT, THREATEN TO DRAG HER BACK TO THE ASYLUM, WHICH WE CAN ALL AGREE IS PROBABLY NOT A NICE PLACE, ON THE SHEER FACT THAT YOU ACT LIKE ONCE YOU’VE BEEN IN THERE TOO LONG, YOU MIGHT ASWELL NEVER LEAVE AGAIN!” and with that karkat cooled, his now red face slowly lightening in hue, as he thought about what he had just said, and made it a point to let go of the other male's ear. Deciding he would leave things as they were, he kneeled infront of Di “HEY DI, YOU OK”.

  


Dianaa didn’t want to think about reality, it was too painful in truth, it had taken so much, and left her nothing to start life with, but once she heard the anger stop, and opened her eyes to see her brother looking at her, nothing but care and worry in his eyes, and it calmed her to no end to see that instead of a shouting beast. And it was barely a split second later that she noticed the glaring eyes looking down at her from across the room soften for a second, before the door was slammed and to her surprise it was just her and karkat again. “He, he’s not n-nice” she said, carefully considering her words as to not stumble over them as much.

  


“YEAH HE’S LIKE THAT, HE AGGRAVATES THE HELL OUTA ME, BUT HE’S USUALLY A PRETTY DECENT GUY, DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT ASPECT OF HIM THOUGH” even if Dianaa hadn’t been out of the asylum very long, she knew exactly was wrong with him. Sollux had gone through much the same as she had, to an extent, and she, if anyone, knew how hard that was, how hard it was to go through that, but she could not feel a bond growing between them any time soon.

  


Karkat seemed to be focussing on the back of the sofa, but in truth he was focussing on what to do next, considering every word he could say, and every move he could make, he knew the situation was delicate and needed to be treated as such. He knew that his chances of being able to help Di where slimming with every slip up he made, so he needed to make sure he didn’t do it again, or else he could end up with an insane person in his house, if she wasn’t already, and with the shocking news he’d had to deal with today, he wasn’t sure he, or anyone else in his family, was ready for that. He swiftly checked of people he could call to tell him how to deal with a mentally handicapped person, but his options weren’t very many. He’d already tried sollux, kankri wasn’t even going to be considered, and he could just tell how scared she already was of sollux’s father, so that didn’t leave many people left. So he left it for the time being, and turned his attention back to his object of affection, who was currently in her own thoughts, not surprising considering it’s all she’d had for so long, and being taken out of that element too quickly would no doubt give her a mental whiplash, so he needed to leave her be, unless it turned into something more akin to whatever had happened earlier.

  


But what neither twin expected was for there to be a knock on the door, and fearing it was sollux again, lead Dianaa to curl up into a skinny ball, made up of hair and straight jacket, both with blood stains in them. It was the first time karkat had noticed the stains, and he wondered just how the stains had gotten there, but he didn’t give it much thought as the door opened, seemingly by itself, as a young short haired girl with a long coat with a cat tail pinned on it, and a cat eared hat walked through. “Hey karkitty, why didn’t you want to come to the-”. She froze like sollux did when he had seen her, thankfully her face wasn’t anywhere near as angry as sollux’s had been, and Dianaa doubted it ever could, with her cute chubby cheeks, and olive green eyes, reminding her of kinder days.

  


“HI NEPETA” karkat grumbled, turning back to Dianaa’s direction, but not actually looking at anything. Di gave a small, nervous wave, the sleeves of the jacket covering up her hands, she had no doubt nepeta’s sleeves would have been just as long on her if she rolled them down. 

“Karkitty who is this” nepeta said cautiously as she equally cautiously walked towards the twins

“NEPETA, THIS IS DIANAA, SHE’S MY TWIN, DIANAA, THIS IS ONE OF YOUR OLDER SISTERS”.

  


Nepeta seemed to perk up at that, while Dianaa cowered away, she could smell lies in the air, and they weren’t pretty ones either. “Ooooh, and here i thought you’d finally gotten a girlfriend” nepeta says kindly, no malice in her voice, despite the seemingly sweet way she talked, Dianaa couldn’t help but think of days when people had used tactics like this to lure her out.

  


“YEAH YOU WISH, YA CRAZY CAT GIRL” karkat grumbled, before standing up and turning to Nepeta “SO WHAT DO YOU WANT KID?” Karkat said, sounding more mature than he had done with Sollux, and certainly much calmer, but the shred of anger that was still there gave the question a threatening edge to it.

  


“Karkitty, i'm older than you, and anyway, i was going to ask why you weren’t coming to the family dinner tonight, bu~t, since it appears you have your hands full, i’ll just tell everyone to reschedule” she says as she walks to the door “does everyone know yet” she asks once she reached it, her hand hanging loosely onto the handle.

“NEPETA LEIJON, IF YOU TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS I WILL PERSONALLY WALK TO YOUR HOUSE AND LODGE A SICKLE IN YOUR THROAT” karkat said threateningly, as he rose above both the girls in the room, but while dianaa only curled into the soft fabric of the seat, nepeta only giggled, making a creepy atmosphere that was all too familiar to the troubled girl.

  


“Cant promise you that ka~rkitty, you're just too precious when you're mad” she said as she opened the door and walked through it, smiling as she left the twins to whatever was said next.

  


There was an eerie moment of silence between the twins, as karkat stroked a hand through his hair and collapsed on the seat next to dianaa, causing it to shake, and shocking dianaa in the process. “I REALLY CAN'T STAND HER SOMETIMES” he said, his hand dragging down his face as he took the quiet moment to think over the events of the day,  it had been full of new information and next steps in both the twins lives, forever linking them as twins to whatever fate had sealed for them. Karkat could only realise this though as he watched the young girl silently, as she was doing to him, and though the silence wasn’t awkward, it was still silence that he knew the girl would find awkward. But instead of speaking, he merely rose from his seat and walked to the table in the other room, looking through the files that had been given to him by his godfather, the man he knew as an uncle, and the man who condemned them to this. As his eyes gazed through the files in their entirety, he was almost sick, finding a new way to hate the man, as creepy as he’d always been it was clear there was way more than meets the eye with him.

Deciding it would be best to leave things as they where he once again rose, this time looking at a clock on the wall, a crab one he got for his birthday a couple of years back from his father, it was late, and he was tired, and if he was tired, he guessed dianaa would be exhausted. 

  


When karkat once again returned to the room dianaa was in, he saw she hadn’t moved, merely sitting in the same spot and staring into space, not surprising from what he’d seen, but worrying to say the least “HEY DI”. his sentence caught her attention in seconds, her eyes locking with his, both red, and both tired “IT'S TIME FOR BED” he said turning to leave, but once he got to the stairs he noticed that dianaa hadn’t followed him, he walked back, only to see she was curled into the couch, deep in sleep, or at least it seemed so. He smiled slightly, endearingly, as he walked over to take her in his arms and carry her up to her room, it wasn’t difficult, she was light, thin, and small, tell tale signs of malnutrition and lack of sleep, probably an insomniac to some degree, or maybe she had learnt to sleep on command instead. It wasn’t long until he got to the plain white room, and it was then, holding the girl that he saw why she’d freaked out, he’d need to do his research on what kind of things happened there, but that was for another day. He slowly crept out of the room, careful not to wake her from her peaceful slumber, and for the first time since he could remember, he felt like he actually had a family that cared about.

  



	3. chapter 2: society

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dianaas first time in a croud, what could possibly go wrong.

 

Dianaa was the happiest she had ever been in her life, mixed with complete anxiety and her usual lack of sleep, but happy. Karkat had told her on her second day that today would be her first day of school, where she would meet new people and start her life, she knew it was difficult for him to keep up with her new boundless energy for the past week, having being dragged into this out of nowhere, he had made that much clear, but he was trying, and so was she. She had quickly picked up on many new terms and words throughout her time with her brother so far, and although he wasn’t so keen on her leaving the house all too much, he didn’t say she couldn’t, and the space in the house alone was much bigger than the world she’d lived in before.

 

Dianaa was currently looking at herself in the mirror, her reflection staring back at her with the same eyes she was giving it, and she was saddened as she looked at her body in it, the cuts, burnt flesh, scars, and even the veins that pushed out in her chest, forming a weird hexagon shape, all proof of who she was and what she had been through. She took the time to gather her new clothes up, a red hoodie with the same symbol she had seen on many of karkat's clothes, as well as black leggings and boots, where what waited for her to put on. As she shuffled into a t-shirt, she couldn’t help but notice the long cut that went down the left side of her body, it was stitched together and looked extremely infected, and dianaa had fought to keep it hidden from karkat, for no other reasons than the memories it held for her, and the pain she felt by mearily glancing at it.

 

Outside dianaa’s room stood a very impatient karkat, waiting as best as he could for his sister to open the door, she took forever to get changed, needing help most the time, but it didn’t bother karkat, he had accepted that he would have to deal with this as soon as he’d welcomed her into his home, their home as it was. He at first thought that merely telling her how to put clothes on would be enough, but that was soon disproved as she struggled to pull up her leggings on the second day out of the asylum, but it had taken even longer to get dianaa to realise that her room was hers and that he wasn’t going to intrude unless he needed to. But even though he tried to stay away from her room as much as possible when she was in there, he couldn’t help but wonder back, just in case anything happened to which his assistance was needed, which was more times then was probably necissary.

 

The sound of wood creaking open caught karkat’s attention as he saw the dellicate form of dianaa walk into the hall clossing the door behind her “o-oh, where you waiting, sorry, i’ll try to be, q-quicker next time” she said, her speeking had improved, but she still had quite a ways to go before she was up to standard with the rest of society.

 

“ITS FINE, YOU WHERE QUICKER THAN YESTERDAY” he said with a smile, it was small but still enough for the girl to grin rediculously in response. Karkat took dianaa’s hand carefully, leading her down the stairs and to the door, the nervousness clear on dianaa’s face as they stood there, karkat preparing himself for the rest of the world that he knew would be cruel to his sister if he wasn’t careful.

 

Dianaa felt like entire world was shifting as the door was slowly creaked open by karkat, he seemed to drag it out, unclear wether it was for his own sake or the sister he held so dear, and what was beyond the door only widened the smile she had worn earlier. Instead of a dark bleak world like she had been expecting, the world had a sense of brightness to it, one she must have blanked out in her haze on the trip to her house. Her first real steps in this world that met her gaze felt bittersweet, as she took the lead infront of karkat, blanking out the noise of the door closing, in favor of listening to the wind blowing, and the weirdly shaped birds flying over her heads squaks. She found herself bending down and taking a handfull of dirt, and nuzzling it, taking in the feelings she could never, have all at once. She heard karkat laugh slightly, causing her to turn slowly, giving him innocent eyes that knew nothing, but curiosity laced them, so he walked up and took her hand, and lead her down a path that lead to a gate, the true door to the world she presumed. As karkat opened the steel br gate, she saw a road, and many miles of grass and trees aroud the house, she looked back, looking for the first time the true size of her new home, it was large, and had many stone crabs on the sides of the roofs, it toward above her, towards the sky, but never quite reached the cloads, a dissapointment in her mind. She was so focussed on the house that she barely noticed it was getting smaller until it dissapeared, and she turned to join karkat in walking to the school.

 

It was a long walk to get to the inner walls, and karkat had genuinely tried to lead her attention away from the outer walls, the asylum, as the dwellers called it, unlike many, she knew what that entailed. But along the walk, she could’t help but feel the loneliness that came wth a life like this, karkat had mentioned how every house belonged to a person, and that there where possibly miles between each one, depending on how they associated with others in the walls, and because of this karkat had his own little corner, far away from most people, and that he’d lived like this most of his life. Dianaa felt there bond growing as they walked, taking in her brothers world as she let her mind wander to what it would be like to actually live like this, alone, away from most of the population, and it saddened her to think of what it must be like. When they had finally gotten to the inner walls gate, she had been so far into her mind, that she hadn’t comprehended the people around her, but when she finally did notice them, it was because of the familiar face of sollux, walking their way. “You really couldn’t lithten to me one time kk?” he said, his lisp finally starting to become offputting to her.

 

“I REFUSE TO LISTEN TO YOUR UNEEDED HATRED OF MY SISTER YOU FUCKASS” dianaa had found this language interesting, and had curiously enquired about it, much to karkat’s disgrace.

 

“Excuthe me if im trying to do whatth actually betht for her” she could feel his anger, and the reciprocant one that karkat let out to retaliate.

“I READ HER FILES AFTER YOU LEFT SOLLUX, AND I’M DESGUSTED THAT YOU EVEN WANT TO SUGGEST PUTTING HER BACK IN THERE. IM NOT STUPID, I KNOW YOU READ THOSE FILES, CAPTOR” he said the last word with a kind of hiss, and though she didn’t like the idea of him saying it like that, to disgrace the word like it was curse, she could see why.

“Of courthe i read them, firtht thing i did after i got home, even before i talked to dad about it.”

“THEN YOU KNOW THAT HE LET ME TAKE CARE OF HER” he said, a tone of victory lacing his voice

 

“Yeah, but i altho know that he wath extremely hethitant to, becauthe you know, athylum dweller” his voice was also lined with victory, and made dianaa cower at the tyhought of what might happen next. She found herself stepping back as the conversation quickly led to insults that flew right at eachother, words of all types being sent from one person to another, getting so bad, that before long dianaa found herself bumping into nother person.

 

“HEY!” dianaa turned around to see that she had bumped into a long black haired girl with glasses on, i kind of black lense covering her left eye “whats the big idea, huh” she said, sounding like she ruled the world.

 

“S-sorry” dianaa said, stepping back a bit, the girl looked older than her, by at leasta couple of hyears, and moutines taller aswell, towering the poor girl into the hard, rock like, ground.

 

“Yeah well, dont do that again” she said, as she looked dianaa up and down, and dianaa’s gaze couldn’t help but wander to a boy in wheelchair next to her. “I don’t recognise you” dianaa’s attention snapped back to the girl. “O~h, your that asylum dweller huh, yeah well, just stay the fuck away from me, got it, i dont want to have to deal with captor stuff” she said before turning back to the boy.

 

“v-vRISKA, sHOULDNT wE, uH, iNTRODUCE oURS-SELVES, i, uH mEAN, sHE iS, n-nEW” the boy says, he sounds nervous, like he’s afraid of something.

 

“Well you’ve a good job of introducing me so far, haven’t you, and anyway it’s not worth trouble” vriska says, giving the boy a glare, she quickly moves to behind him and wheels him to another group of people, but the boy turns back and gives her a small wave before turning back quickly.

 

“I SEE YOU’VE MET OUR RESIDANT BITCH” karkat says from behind her, she turns to meet his gaze, “CMON, THE TRAIN WILL BE HERE SOON, THEN WE CAN FINALLY GET TO SCHOOL, WHERE NO’ONE CAN PICK ON YOU” karkat says, holding out his hand again, which Dianaa takes as they look back at the gate behind them. The gate slowly opens with a creak, blasts of fresh air bursting through it, as well as the smoke that flows with it, and dianaa is an absolute shock as she sees what lays before her, a train, with many people surrounding it, older people, ranging from their twenties, to what look like their one hundred and eighties. But it’s the land around it that gives solemn feel, though nowhere near as bad as she thought it would be, it was still much more confined than the world she had seen mere moments ago, and she couldn’t help but feel claustrophobic at the thought of not having a wide open space to herself, even if she’d personally been through much worse.

 

Karkat slowly leads dianaa onto the train, there where so many people watching, staring, at them, as if they where a rare species that needed protecting, it made dianaa feel, uncomfortable, she knew what it was like to be watched constantly, and from the way karkat gript her hand, she could tell they probably weren’t the best people to get to know. She soon found herself sitting at the back of the train, staring out the window, but most importantly, sat next to new people “IT’S BEST NOT TO STARE” the voice wasnt quite karkats, it had the same vollume, but ot the same tone, it was almost mocking in some ways. Dianaa found herself looking at a girl with short hair and red glasses, wearing all black besides a teal symbol on her shirt “YOUR NEW, ARENT YOU” she said, not looking at di.

 

“U-um, y-yeah” dianaa said nervously, the girl turned to face her, and she could see her eyes move over her form behind the lenses, she held out her hand “TEREZI PYROPE” she said, dianaa took the hand and was greeted by a fairly ruff shake from the other girl

“D-dianaa” she aswered the unsaid question.

 

“WELL IM GLAD SOMEONE AROUND HERE HAS SOME COMMON SENSE” karkat said from dianaa’s other side, he seemed to be waving his arms around in a very melodramatic way from either girls view.

 

“WELL IT’S ONLY RIGHT TO BE NICE TO THE OTHER CHERRY TWIN, NOW ISN’T IT” terezi had a grin on her face that seemed to be trying to set karkat off, for some reason that dianaa couldn’t pick up on.

 

“EXACTLY, THOUGH, PLEASE DONT CALL US THAT, I REALLY, YOUR MY FRIEND TEREZI, SERIOUSLY, NO MORE NICKNAMES, EVER” the sentance only seemed to make terezi’s grin wider though as she turned back to face the front of the train.

 

“HEH, CANT HELP IT STRAWBERRY, YOUR JUST WORTH FIGHTING FOR” dianaa didn’t know what terezi meant by that, but that seemed to be the note that the conversation ended on, so she didn’t pry, just incase there was a limit to eithers kindness.

 

Karkat couldn’t help but worry, he couldn’t help it, ever since that first day when he realised not everyone would be as welcoming to dianaa as he was, he knew that today would be risky, these people took first impressions very seriously, and had specific cliques that they followed to a t. But what scared kakat the most, was everyone in those groups, he had grown up with them, and knew them all like they where his own siblings, but with that came the knowledge that they didn’t let new people into those cliques unless there was a good reason, or familial bond. But the fact that at least a few of them seemed to be at the very least polite to dianaa, made him calm a little, if he could get some of the more tougher people to warm up to her, maybe he could at least be calm knowing she had powerfull alies that could help him protect her, and terezi was a good start.

 

Dianaa sat on her seat staring into space, taking a few laps around her mind to gather her situation well, it was one of the few things she could do after all, and she liked the skill of perception, made her feel smart, even if it was only by mild peices. Her eyes seemed to drift all around the cart, from the cieling to a pipe that ran through the top of the cart, to the other seats and people in them, she noticed that the three people closest to her besides terezi and karkat, where to girls, one of which had hair parted into two pony tails that one of which was pink and the other black, aswell as wearing a dress that seemed to poof out, and alot of eye liner and lipstick. The girl she was latched onto was girl with a mullet that seemed to flow out at the ends, that was glaring down at a weird device she had never seen befores screen, but she caught a glimpse of a weirdly shaped scar over her right eye, but overall the clearly older woman only struck fear into her heart, or maybe it was her attached acomplice. The other person in the cart was a slightly younger looking woman, with shorter hair tied in a regular pony tail, fabric covered her mouth, and it apeared to have a kind of moon and dimond symbol on it, she was looking down at dianaa asumed to be a phone, she was in such a possition that dianaa could see her slightly blue eyes, pearing down at the screen, until they flickered up to dianaa. Dianaa of course was shocked by this, chosing to curl in on herself and wave at the girl, who proceeded to give her an odd look of confusion, before waving back slightly before turning back to her device.

 

Before long the cart stopped, and the people she had been watching got up and made there way out, the girl who had fabric over her mouth being much more sneeky, ant seeming to take things from the the other girl’s pockets. “CMON DI” Karkat said, getting up himself, while Terezi walked on past them and out the cart.

 

“I say the girl with fabric on her mouth, take from the long haired girl” Dianaa said, she was greeted with a slightly confused look from her brother, before realization began to fill it.

 

“OH YEAH, THAT WAS MORGAN, SHE ALWAYS SEEMS TO STEAL THINGS, HONESTLY THE FINNES AND STICHS FAMILIES SEEM TO BE HER FAVOURITE TEST DUMMIES” dianaa tried her best to follow the explanation as she walked out of the cart and looket at the building that seemed to go up for miles, even rivalling the hight of The Asylum.

 

“Tall” she said, before looking at the other people again, Vriska and the boy in the seat where slowly being stalked by Morgan, who was closely followed by the other two girls she had seen, but not met yet. “Who, are they?” Dianaa pointed at the two girls, the one with pony tails still gripped to the others arm, even though the girl was trying to shake her off. 

 

Karkat followed Di’s line of vision to the sisters “OH THEIR DELILA STICHS AND KARMAR FINNES, DELILA IS ALWAYS ATTACHED TO KARMAR, THOUGH WE TRY TO AVOID THEM MOST OF THE TIME.” Dianaa looked at Karmar again, and then switched her sight to Delila, still deciding which one she was afraid of, but knowing it wasn’t both.

 

“Why?” she pressed on, examaning them more intently, as Karmar spun Morgan around, much to the other girls distress. Karkat sighed, watching as Karmar proceeded to punch Morgan in the face before snatching something from her, while Dianaa curled into Karkat.

 

“BECAUSE DEL’S INSANE AND KARMAR’S PROTECTIVE, JUST LIKE HER MOMS” the thought made dianaa confused, she was always told by her mother that for someone to give birth there had to be a farther, though never went into a much detail a Shadow did about that sort of thing, she’d always confuse Di, with mentions of alternative methods and birth control.

“Moms?” Di asked, hoping Karkat would know what she meant, as she watched Delila hang back to kick Morgan in the leg, though it didn’t seem to affect her as much as the punch did.

“OH GOG YEAH, YOU NEVER GOT TAUGHT THIS STUFF, DID YOU” Karkat face palmed et how he had been so stupid as to believe she would get anything he was going to say, “OK, WELL USUALLY THERES A MALE AND FEMALE, BUT THERES THIS THING CALLED ECTOBIOLOGY THAT MAKES IT SO ANYONE CAN HAVE CHILDREN, EVEN PEOPLE OF THE SAME GENDER, HONESTLY THE ONLY GOOD THING TO COME FROM PSIIONIC” he said, taking Dianaa’s hand and walking her away from the cart. She processed the information for a moment, matching it up with what the Shadow had said to her once, it matched, but then her minds eye glimpsed the chair, talking, and she visibly shivered at the thought. But continued to let her brother lead her to their destination.

 

Dianaa was nervously sitting in a chair, after she had entered the building she had seen many rooms and was lead to the one, many of the people she had seen and gotten the chance to meet sat on the desks around her. She noticed that Karmar and Delila where sitting with a few other people namely a girl who looked she run away at any moment, and had the outine of a flower printed on a t-shirt, much like many of the symbols she had glanced at. 

 

“Hey” Dianaa turned sharply, Morgan was standing next to her, the fabric lowered to around her nech, and a quick glance at her shoes showed that they were a type of trainer, flat heeled and red, reaching to her ankles. Dianaa returned her gaze to the others face nervously, though excitement also filled her veins “i saw you on the train earlier” Dianaa merely nodded in response, causing morgan to look at her with a questioning look “um, ok, anyway, im Morgan” she said holding out her hand. Dianaa raised her hand slowly and took it, being met with a violent shake “wow, your about as shy as Destai” Dianaa looked back at the nervous girl sitting with Karmar and Delila, and Morgan’s gaze followed “yeah thats her, so whats your name”. Dianaa turned back, a smile cracking on her face slightly, and alien thoughts of happiness enterinr her head.

 

“Dianaa” she said confidently, her smile only growing as Morgan reacted to her mood change, before taking a seat next to her, revealing Karkat who was behind her.

 

“WELL THAT WENT BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD” karkat made his way to the other side of Di before taking his seat, and the screeches of chairs and tables, aswell as the echoes that had been loombing over her. Dianaa looked around, noticing that everyone apeared to have a bored expression, like they were waiting for something to happen.

 

Suddenly the door burst open in what seemed like a sudden burst of energy, causing Dianaa to whiplash her head around to see the people who had entered. Four tall figure walked in, a blonde guy with shades, a blonde girl with short hair who seemed to have wands in it to tie it up, a brown haired girl with bright green eyes and a gun strapped to her back, and finally a boy who seemed smaller than the others, he had buckteeth and glasses he held a hammer in his hands. Dianaa took a moment to look between them 

 

“hello class” the short boy said holding out his arms, everyone seemed to sigh at this, annoyed at his enthusiasum. “Oh come on” he said walking defeatedly to the brown female, who pushed up her round glasses and smiled at him.

 

“Heh, well, well, well” the blonde male said, looking straight at Di “seems we have a new person here”. Dianaa shied away slightly as the blonde male walked over slightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, didnt have a designated end point to this chapter, decided to split in half. no progress has been made as this was the last chapter i made prior so im going to get my act together for next chapter


	4. chapter 3: anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dianaa's first day of school, it goes about as well as one would think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I have had this chapter waiting to be posted for months now. Like June time, or something. I'm just picky about my upload schedule. We're not quite at a point where the plot has gone into full throttle yet, but we're getting there. And thank you for reading this story, I would love it if you decided to comment your thoughts and opinions. Thank you.

Dianaa tried to instinctively make herself as small as possible, something she had picked up over the years, only seeming to make the blonde walk closer. It was only a hand on his shoulder by the other male that caused him to draw back addressing the whole class again.

 

“Well then miss Vantas why don’t you give us an introduction to yourself”. The sudden urging from the blonde caused her to cower more and frantically look around the room as she thought of something to say.

 

“Uh w- well, um, I” Dianaa glanced to Karmar and Delila, who both gave her questioning looks, one more accusing then the other. Then she turned to Karkat, who gave her a motion, she presumed it was for her to try and say something, but her mind went blank as all eyes in the room was on her. Before she new it her breathing was quickening, panic freezing her limbs as she tried to breath, though it never seemed to be enough.

 

“FUCK” Dianaa turned to Karkat. He seemed to be going through his pockets, searching for something. Before long he walked to the front of the room, handing the smaller male of the other four a piece of paper, a note from what Dianaa could tell, before he walked back to his seat, smirking slightly.

 

Dianaa’s breathing still hadn’t slowed, not until she realised that the only person looking at her was her brother, he seemed to give her a look that, though on the surface seemed to be stoik and uncaring, gave off the slightest aura of concern. And as Dianaa managed to swallow the saliva in her throat, she realised the people were talking. 

 

“So, as you all know, today is the day you get your first weapons” the blonde said, the thought of weapons echoing in Dianaa’s head. The blonde continued on “as is standard procedure, you will all be taking a weapons test” he turned suddenly again to Di, giving eye contact as he said in a lower voice. “Sadly, though you have missed years of training and lessons, we don't have the time or resources to let you catch up properly, so you’ll just have to try your best, but we won't blame you for getting lower than others”. Dianaa sat there, staring up at him, confusion lasing her gaze.

 

The test proceeded from there, everyone was gathered into a group, and we were told we’d take turns to try the weapons they had brought, and we were left to see how comfortable we were with them. Overall scores where based off comfort and skill with a particular weapon, one could try as many as they wanted, as there was a large variety to choose from, ranging from weapons labelled as scythes, sickles, swords, guns of a variety, knitting and sewing needles, as well as what Dianaa recognised as needle, though it looked a lot more threatening than the others.

 

Karkat was glancing over at Dianaa as Vriska walked up to look at the weapons. Karkat leaned down to Di, whispering “you going to be ok”, Dianaa nodded slightly in response, though her brother still seemed to tense slightly. She reached her hand out and took Karkat’s hand, he seemed slightly shocked and repulsed for a second, but it quickly melted into a small smile, one that dianaa gladly returned.

 

Soon enough it was Karkat’s turn, and Dianaa looked around at the others in the room Morgan standing with others, smile on her face as she showed off her throwing knives joyfully, though the recipients didn’t seem to be very interested, Destai and Selexa if Dianaa had heard their elders correctly. “Dianaa Vantas” Dianaa turned to see Karkat walking towards her with two sickles in hand, behind him the male blonde was looking at her with the others.

 

Dianaa stepped towards them “time to choose your weapon darling” the female blonde said calmly, a small smile on her face.

 

“Rose there's no way she’ll be able to use any of them” the female brunette said. She seemed slightly annoyed at the situation “she should at least have more time to adjust, she probably doesn't even know what any of these things are, let alone how to use them”.

 

“Maybe so, but we can't afford to hold her back Jade, plus im sure whatever weapon she choses, Karkat will be able to help her with it, besides…” Rose gave Dianaa a look that seemed to peer into her soul “i do not believe she’ll have much trouble, trust me on this is” She walked up to Dianaa and directed her to the tables that held all the weapons on it, “Go ahead Dianaa, try whatever feels right”.

 

Dianaa swallowed the saliva in her throat as she stepped towards the table her eyes glossing over them, some of them seemed to be recognisable to her, though she couldn’t quite remember where she’d seen them before. She looked back at Karkat, who gave her a nervous, but encouraging look, one that reminded her of someone, though she couldn’t remember who. She turned back to the weapons, passing multiple guns, and knives of different types and designs. She only stopped when she came to a weapon that she vividly remembered, it was a scythe, one with a long handle made of black metal and a blade of silver. Simple but familiar. She reached out and rapped her hand around the handle.

 

“There's no way she’s going to be able to lift that” the brunettes voice rang out behind her.

 

“Jade, it will be fine” Rose said from behind her.

 

“Yeah Jade maybe we should see what she can do” The male brunette said, curiosity becoming evident.

 

Dianaa took in a breath and started to lift the bladed weapon, it was lighter than she’d expected, as she lifted it into both hands, giving it an experimental swing before lowering her body and doing a more focused one. She felt eyes boring into her neck as she turned to see the majority of the room staring at her, though she saw that Sollux was glaring hatefully instead of the other surprised looks she was getting.

 

“How did you...?” Jade said, though her question was cut off at the end by the blonde male.

 

“Does it really matter?” the blonde’s face didn’t read malice like Sollux’s, instead choosing to show a more inquisitive look, even if his eyes were covered. He soon turned to the others, though chose to look at Rose, who walked towards the door, followed by the other blonde.

 

“That's weird?” Jade said to the only male teacher left in the room “since when did Rose and Dave have private conversations. John just shrugged in response.

 

“Wow” Dianaa turned to Morgan, who was looking at her with another curious gaze “didn’t think you’d be strong enough to lift a scythe, how does it feel”.

 

Dianaa looked down at the weapon in her hands, lifting it up in her hands “good” she said “feels, good”.

 

“Well anyway let me introduce to my friends” Morgan said, taking Di’s arm and pulling her over to the two she had been showing her knives too earlier. “Dianaa, this is Destai Hibet’n and Selexa Slith’r” Morgan said indicating to the other two.

 

“That wass an interessting performance there dianaa” Seexa said, her voice dragging on her s’s. Dianaa just lowered her gaze to the floor.

 

“I, guess” she eventually said in response.

 

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE” Karkat said as he walked up to the group. His scowl seemed to scare Destai, who had long dark hair that almost reached the ground, and lime green eyes. She had the symbol of a flower on her long sleeved top, and a long green skirt seemingly split into different sections.

 

“Morgan wass jusst introducing uss to Dianaa here” this did not improve Karkat’s mood in the slightest as he glared at the two. Destai started shaking slightly as she moved behind Selexa “and can you pleasse sstop glaring Desstai, you know sshe doessn’t like it”. Selexa herself had short hair and goggles over her eyes, they had a sort of gear design around the frames, the wore a short sleeved shirt with a weird bent tear looking design on it.

 

“SEL, DON'T YOU HAVE A COUSIN GLARING AT YOU TO TALK TO” Karkat said motioning to behind her where Sollux was indeed glaring at the blonde.

 

“Huh” Selexa said as she turned to her apparent cousin “oh right” she said walking over to Sollux, Destai nervously following her, after glancing at the still glaring Karkat.

 

Once they left Morgan turned to him, giving him an angry look “that wasn’t very nice Kar, you know Destai was probably as sheltered as Di here” Morgan gestured to Di as she said that. Di couldn’t help but think of what that would mean for the other.

 

“YOU WOULDN’T THINK THAT IF YOU ACTUALLY READ HER FILE, MORGAN” Karkat said, his fists clenching slightly as he said it.

 

“What do you mean? What could Psii have possibly done to her?” Morgan asked, worry gracing her face as took a step back. Karkat didn’t answer, only clenching his fist more. Dianaa thought back to her life before Karkat, wondering exactly how much of what actually happened was in that file.

 

Karkat didn’t have time to answer though, as the door opened and Dave and Rose walked in again, there faces both seemed to be molded into concentration as they walked over to Jade and the other male. Soon they had turned to the crowds of teenagers “now that you all have your weapons it's time for your first field mission” there where a number if cheers from people around the room, the collective noise circling in Dianaa’s head.

 

The door was pushed open by the collective of rowdy teens as they made their way out of the school, leaving only Dianaa and Karkat, as well as Karmar and Delila in the room. Dianaa walked over to the other two girls “uh, um, h-hello” She sputtered nervously as she rubbed her upper arm.

 

“That was very impressive, earlier” Karmar said as she turned to Dianaa, attaching a belt that held two rapiers around her waist.

 

“What are you a turkey” Delila said, holding two giant sewing needles.

 

“Don't be mean Del” Karmar said slightly impatiently “but either way we must be off” she said turning and walking out of the room, Delila close behind.

 

“Don't worry she’s like that” karkat said, his voice no longer a shout. Dianaa looked at him quizzically. “Something wrong Di?”

 

“Not shout, not angry?” Dianaa said, as she brung the scythe to her chest.

 

“Their annoying as all hell Di, they may not seem like it right now, but they are”Karkat said as he walked over to a table with a bunch of leather objects “come on, put your scythe in this, you don't want to be carrying it around all the time where we’re going.

 

When they made it to the asylum gates Dianaa was shaking, Karkat had his arm around her as he led her to the giant doors. “Finally” Di turned to see vriska, a pouch of dice attached to her belt. “You took your time didn’t you” her voice seemed full of annoyance.

 

“SHUT UP VRISKA, CAN'T YOU SEE SHE DOESN'T WANT TO FUCKING BE HERE” Karkat said, his angry shout back as he spoke to the eyepatch wearing girl. He led Dianaa away from Vriska, and towards an isolated corner away from everyone else.

 

“Alright” Dave said as he walked over to Karkat and Dianaa “your the last people here and because of your situation your going to have to team up with another pair so…” he said, looking at a clipboard in his hands, and what looked like a sword on his back. “We’re thinking of pairing you up with Karmar and Delila, will that be ok?” his voice was smooth and laid back, but with an edge to it.

 

“YOU MEAN BESIDES THEIR DISLIKE OF EVERYONE ELSE, YEAH FINE” Karkat said crossing his arms. Dianaa shrugged slightly, choosing instead to side glance to the floor.

 

“Well there aren’t any other groups who would take you” Dave said his shades shining slightly in the artificial light.

 

“WHAT ABOUT GAMZEE” Karkat said.

 

“He’s with Terezi, you remember what happened last time you three were together, don't you” Dave said matter of factly.

 

“THAT WAS BETWEEN GAMZEE AND TEREZI, I WAS TRYING TO INTERVENE, AND HE WOULD GO WITH TAVROS IF VRISKA DIDN'T STOP HOGGING HIM”. Karkat said with a smug grin on his face “SIMPLE SOLUTION”.

 

Dave stood there, his face neutral “alright then, i’ll make the changes to the groups then”. Dave said as he walked to said groups.

 

“Who, Tavros and Gamzee?” Dianaa asked as she looked at Karkat.

 

“Well, Gamzee’s my friend, has been since he came here, and Tavros is his major crush”. Karkat said still grinning widely.

 

“Hey Karbro” said Gamzee as he walked up to the twins. His hair was wild and messy, he wore polka dotted pants and shirt with a Capricorn symbol on it, there were two clubs attached to his belt. His voice sounded relaxed, a little too relaxed in Dianaa’s opinion. He strode in long strides and seemed to almost flop around as he walked towards the pair.

 

“GAMZEE, WHAT HAVE YOU BE TAKING” Karkat said slightly more annoyed, though a bit quieter than usual.

 

“Every fucking thing, bro” Gamzee said as he stood in front of the two, Dianaa raised an eyebrow as he swayed. Karkat just facepalmed at him.

 

“I LEAVE YOU FOR ONE WEEK AND THIS IS WHAT I COME BACK TO” karkat almost shouted this in an annoyed manner but turned and started to walk towards everyone else anyway, “YOU KNOW WHAT, FORGET IT, LET'S JUST GET THIS OVER WITH” he said making exaggerated gestures as he continued to walk. “LET'S JUST GET GOING BEFORE SOMETHING WORSE HAPPENS TO US” he said turning to face Dianaa and Gamzee as Tavros was wheeled in by Vriska.

 

“Take care of him you freaks” she said before walking off to Terezi. Dianaa’s eyes lingered on the two who acted like they where best friends.

 

“Why didn’t go her” Dianaa managed pointing at Terezi and Vriska. And despite all reasoning Karkat seemed to pick up on her chopping sentence.

 

“OH, TAVROS AND VRISKA ARE HALF SIBLINGS, AND SINCE TAVROS IS UNABLE TO WALK, HE NEEDS TO BE WHEELED AROUND ALL THE TIME” Karkat shrugged as he walked back to the other three people in his group. Gamzee had taken up the job of wheeling Tavros around as it seemed, much to Tavros’s delight, if the look on his face meant anything. “I GUESS SHE GOT PROTECTIVE WHEN SHE REALISED THAT HE NEEDED HELP ALL THE TIME” he said, his voice softer than before, no longer holding its edge, and instead holding an empathetic tone. Dianaa smiled at Karkat, it was as good as she could give.

 

“Like, brother, Karkat” she said, her hands behind her back as she looked at the two males having fun. Karkat just looked down at Dianaa, giving her a rare smile as he ruffled her hair slightly.

 

“Yeah, like me”.

 

The asylum was just as Dianaa remembered, it was just as white, and just as condescending. She got odd looks from the staff as the teachers lead them in, across from them was another door, but Dianaa couldn’t concentrate as she started sweating and breathing heavily, shaking on the spot unaware of her surroundings.

 

Karkat was next to her, he was focussed on Dave talking about how they were going to get shoulder armor that would help protect them from lesser monsters. He looked at Di when she started to lean on him slightly, she was breathing heavily sweat running down her face and breathing heavy. “So you’ll all take it in turns to have your armor put on you by the lovely staff of the asylum” Jade added a little too happily at the situation.

 

“HEY DIANAA” Karkat said, earning the attention of his sister, or at least he hoped “WE’RE GOING TO GET SOME ARMOR OK, AND THE STAFF OF THE ASYLUM ARE GOING TO PUT IT ON, ARE YOU OK WITH THAT” It took a moment, but soon enough Dianaa nodded, her will to be strong for her brother kicking in. Though her fear for what may happen was still quite large.

 

They all took turns to sit on one of the five white chairs as two staff tightened shoulder pads to them, and as Dianaa got closer and closer to the chairs, the more she realised that she might not be allowed to leave. It had her gripping at Karkat for comfort, causing him to worry as she started to hyperventilate. Eventually it was Karkat’s turn, they were right at the back, and as Karkat left to sit on one of the chairs Gamzee stood up and walked away. The staff accompanying the chair looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes, as they waited for her to sit down. Nausea came to her as soon as she sat down, they hands of the two staff coming closer, Dianaa recognised them, and the thought of what they might do now made her scream, twisting away as she toppled the chair and crawled as far away as possible, soon hitting the wall.

 

The staff came towards her, they’re violent looks reminding her of when they would drag her down the halls, kicking and screaming. It was then that the white caught up to her, sending into a fit of violent convulsions on the floor, getting the attention of the entire room. A distant shout could be heard, but not processed as she sat there, arms wrapped tightly around her chest, as she tried to remind herself that this wasn’t permanent. She soon felt hands grip her shoulders, to turn and shake her out of her trance. As soon as her vision had cleared of black dots and fuzziness, she saw that it was Karkat, his face a well welcomed comfort as he held her. Behind him was Jade and John having what looked like a heated conversation with the Asylum Staff, a sight that would have made Dianaa smile if not for the situation. “DI?” Dianaa turned back to face Karkat, her eyes still filled with tears, and a familiar crusty feeling on her cheeks as she looked at his deeply concerned face. “DI, ARE YOU OK, YOU FREAKED OUT” Dianaa merely nodded, and lifted herself up with her legs, her arms still wrapped around her stomach as she sat against the wall. Karkat merely sighed, lifting her arms off of her chest as her grabbed shoulder pads that looked the same as his and started tightening them over her shoulders. They where an uncomfortable weight on her slender form that she did not appreciate, but it was apparently necessary.

 

“Thank” she said, her inability to speak causing Karkat to lightly smile at her.

 

“It's fine” He sounded calmer now, less frantic and more collected as he wrapped his arms around her before pulling her to a stand. “Ok, everyone else is waiting outside, so we better get going, we’re already apparently behind schedule according to Miss Rose Lalonde, and she likes her schedules.” He said taking her arm and leading her to the door opposite the one they’d come in from.

 

“Hey you two wait” Dianaa looked to see the buck toothed male coming towards them, Jade not far behind.

 

“WHAT DO YOU WANT JOHN” Karkat said, the slightest bit of venom in his voice as he spoke to the older male.

 

“Karkat, you know it's Mr Egbert in school hours, but anyway, do you have any idea what just happened, there” he said looking at Karkat as if Di wasn’t even there.

 

“AS MUCH AS YOU’D PROBABLY LIKE TO THINK THAT DI CAN SECRETLY COMMUNICATE LIKE A FUCKING AUTHOR” he said, flinching a bit, before continuing. “BUT SHE CAN'T, AND IT'S ONLY REALLY HAPPENED ONCE BEFORE, AND I HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE IT MIGHT BE A NATURAL REACTION AS TO WHATEVER THEY DID TO HER HERE. SO, DROP, IT!” He finished, gripping Dianaa’s arm a bit harder, before leading her out of the sterile room and out of the city.

 

The outside world was not what she had entirely thought it would be like, for almost as far as they eye can see, there was only a deserted wasteland, but off in the distance a variety of things could be seen, structures that looked as though they had been brutally destroyed, some even crashing into each other, surrounded be a dark cloud that seemed to stem from the centre of it. Not too far away from there was a group of mountains that seemed to have some green around them, though it was darker than the fields around her new house.

 

Karkat lead her to the others, immediately walking up to Gamzee and Tavros, though Gamzee seemed to be asleep on Tavros’s wheelchair. “And thith ith why thhe thhouldn’t have left Kar” Dianaa turned around to see Sollux, frustration on his face as he walked over to them.

 

“NO THIS IS EXACTLY WHY SHE NEEDED TO SOL” Karkat said, stepping in front of Di as Sollux stood in front of him.

 

“uH, cOULD wE, uH nOT fIGHT, mAYBE?” Tavros said from where he sat, trying to wake up the sleeping Gamzee, by shaking his shoulder.

 

“Not an option when thith thing” Sollux motioned to Di as she began to cower behind her brother slightly. “Ith compromithing the thurvival of everyone here”. He dropped his hand before pointing at Karkat. “I’ve read thothe reportth Kar, and that doethn’t even begin to dethcribe the kind of thing thhe wath in there for.” Dianaa couldn’t see his face, but she could tell that Karkat was confused “hallucinationth don't go away Karkat, and they could be the death of you, if you believe them” He finished, before stomping away from the small group, and to Selexa, who looked back at Di and shrugged.

 

“DI?” Dianaa turned to Karkat, before lowering her head to the ground, it was dusty the kind of dry earth that only occured when it hadn’t rained for a long time. Soon enough Karkat had his arm around Di “WE SHOULD PROBABLY BE HEADING OVER THERE TOO HE SAID” his voice in a bit of a sigh as he walked behind them to Gamzee and Tavros. He then walked over to Gamzee and shook him quite violently, instantly waking him from his sleep, though the violent jolt he made concerned Di slightly.

 

“Uh, what's up Karbro?” he said drowsily, still leaning on the wheeled device, though he did face Karkat.

 

“WE NEED TO JOIN THE OTHERS FOR A BRIEFING BEFORE WE LEAVE IDIOT”  Karkat said, walking over to the others of the class who seemed to be less so, but still slightly annoyed at Dianaa. “IGNORE THEM DI” Kar said, as he walked past a frozen Di to the front of the crowd, were all of the teachers were busy talking to each other about what Di assumed to be the days plans.

 

As soon as everyone was there, the four older teens turned to them, Rose stepping in front of the others. Purple eyes gleaming, her dignified stance spoke of her intellectual intent as she held a clipboard, that she frantically flicked through. “Despite minor delays” she began, voice slightly anxious as she scoured the clipboard. “We should be able to stick to the schedule”. There was a number of cheers as she mentioned their good news.

 

“So as planned, you’ll be splitting into your groups and exploring this wasteland”. After Dave said that, the groups of disgruntled teens split off into groups of four each walking in different directions as they went.


End file.
